The Romanian Frog
by LetoSai
Summary: One-shot. Magdalena finds herself face to face with an intruder in the house after, oddly enough, kissing a stuffed frog. Twist on The Princess and the Frog. T for Language.


Another fine example of what happens when I find myself bored.  
>It's a twist on the Princess and the Frog, (disclaimer-I don't own it) or maybe more of a redo then a twist, but whatever. It might possible turn into a two-shot but I guess that depends on how motivated I am. ^_^<p>

Enjoy.

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><p>It was quiet. Way to quiet and silent, and that was never a good thing at this time of day. Magdalena turned off the water to the kitchen sink and dried her hands before shoving her long blond hair over her shoulder. Again, she'd forgotten to put it up before doing the dishes.<p>

"What are you doing?" she called. Silence. "Don't make me come find out?"

She tossed the towel onto the counter and quietly padded barefoot down the hall and into the living room. Seeing her two year old charge standing on a chair that was leaning against the TV gave her a minor heart attack, and she flew into the room before grabbing the girl under the arms.

"Olivia! That's naughty!" She scolded, plopping the girl on the couch and dragging the chair back where it belonged. How she hadn't heard it moving, she had no idea. "Very naughty."

The two year old poked her lips out and stared at the floor.

"Say sorry." Magdalena stared, giving the girl her no nonsense look.

"Sorry Mammy." She muttered.

With a soft sigh the toddler hadn't actually killed herself she decided not to waste any more of her mild temper on the child. She reached out and pushed the girls blond hair out of her face and was met with the same hazel eyes at matched hers.

Olivia was her cousin's baby and had been born the fall after she graduated high school. Deciding to take a little alone time and ignore school, she became the babysitter. It was originally a part time gig that was only supposed to last for three weeks. Now it was nearly full time and Olivia had just celebrated her second birthday.

As it was, Magdalena probably spent forty hours a week with the little girl.

"It's alright, baby." Magdalena smiled faintly. "C'mon, you can get your leapfrog laptop and play on that while I check my mail.

Olivia smiled big and slid off the couch to her toy chest, pulling out the exact toy required. As far as Magdalena was concerned, there was no child smarter, but then again, she was incredibly biased.

Pulling open her laptop to she smiled at her baby cousin who tried to mimic her ever action pertaining to her computer. She put music on in the background and they rocked back in forth on the couch for the better part of a half an hour before Olivia stated getting a little too mischievous and began to press keys on Magdalena's computer she would have preferred stayed unbroken.

"You want to color before we get some lunch?"

"Mammy!" Olivia answered, dropping her toy on the ground as she slid back down to the floor herself.

"Maggie. Not mammy. Mammy is too close to mommy and you know I'm not mommy." Magdalena chuckled. "Get your toy off the floor please."

"No." She said, walking away until Magdalena grabbed her arm and tugged her back. "Pick up your toy now."

Olivia tugged away and picked up the toy lap top before setting it back on the couch. Quicker than before she took off but bypassed the short old table they moved into the room that could be colored on without anyone getting unhappy over it.

"Hey, you wanted to color." Magdalena chuckled, watching Olivia as she pounced down onto a large plastic bag that had been full of stuffed animals. They were all toys the neighbors had been dropping off all week for a charity auction that weekend, and as far as Olivia was concerned, as long as they were in her sight, they were hers.

"No, play!" Olivia said, emptying the bag of its contents and giving Magdalena a subtle migraine. She'd asked for that when she thrown Olivia's beloved bear in the washer. She was looking for a new soft playmate.

"Okay, okay, pick one and put the rest back." Magdalena said, leaning back on the couch as she watched her. She was looking forward to nap time more than she was being able to go home later in the afternoon. Her eyes closed on their own for a long moment and opened again when something soft was shoved against her cheek and Olivia laughed.

"Frog!"

"It is a frog." Magdalena chuckled, looking at the large green frog stuffed animal that she had pulled out of the bag. She rubbed her eyes. "Good job. Are you and frog hungry?"

Olivia bounced slightly, squeezing the frog tight to her chest as she took off towards the kitchen. By the time Magdalena had even gotten in there, Olivia was already half way into her hair with the frog thrown up on the table in front of her.

"Good job, stay there." Magdalena sighed. For a few months now she'd been terrified the toddler would tip the chair over while she was in it. The last thing she needed was her baby cousin getting hurt on her time. Accidents happened but she liked to make sure it was as few of them as possible.

Lucky for her the frog toy posed as a decent distraction as she went to work making and cutting up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a cup of juice for her to eat. The kid was still in that phase where everything was good and she liked to eat everything. In less than fifteen minutes she was holding up her hands with her face scrunched up.

"Mammy!"

"Yeah, hold it." Magdalena said, wetting a paper towel and handing it to Olivia who wiped her own hands and face off before working on wiping off the frogs hands and mouth too. Again, is distracted her long enough that Magdalena could come up behind her and really wipe her face off without too much complaint from the girl.

"Say thank you." Magdalena added.

"Think you."

Magdalena smiled. "Close enough." She said, holding out a hand for Olivia to take as she climbed out of her chair. She was gone seconds later, running off to get into something else and it was something that was encouraged. The more she ran around, the more tired she would be later.

Olivia was learning Magdalena's mannerisms every day and she wondered how long before that would back fire on her, until then, the kid was still cute. She finally decided to color for a while before she kept handing Magdalena a DVD box to The Lion King that she didn't really watch and by the time the washer and dryer was done, it was nap time.

"Here's bear. He's all warm too." Magdalena chuckled, handing the bear over to the happily squealing girl. "Go to your room, its nap time."

With bear and frog in hand, Olivia paused only to grab her blanket before taking the steps one at a time and arriving to her room almost out of breath. She stood in the center of the room and waited for Magdalena to come in, dim the lights and turn on the CD player before she climbed into her new big girl bed.

"Okay, all set." Magdalena smiled, tucking the toddler in and kissing her head. She held up bear second for a kiss and the frog third for the same thing. Some things, you just didn't fight a kid on. "Ni-night."

"Ni-night." Olivia muttered, pouting only because she was tired and knew Magdalena wouldn't bat an eye at her crying to not sleep. When she closed her eyes, Magdalena slipped the frog out of her loose grasp and got out of the room before Olivia suckered her in to lying with her until she fell asleep.

It wasn't a bad idea but she only got two hours during the day to herself and she was back in the living room before she remembered she still carried the frog toy that was warm.

"Must be from the bear." She thought out loud, setting the frog back on top of the plastic charity bag. She sat back on the couch and flipped through channels before shifting uncomfortably at the heat in the room. The weather was nice outside and the fall weather only required long sleeves or a light jacket but the heat in the room suddenly sky rocketed and she felt like it could have been midsummer with no air conditioning.

She actually pulled her hair back just to get it off her neck and was almost sweating when she heard the faint tear.

On impulse she looked to the stairs, expecting to see Olivia out of bed but there was no one there. Afraid her little one was getting into something, she got up; sighing at how cool it was upstairs and becoming confused when she found Olivia still in bed, already out cold.

She knew the sounds of the house well but the tearing sound was new. When she heard it again, a loud sort of rip, she realized it was coming from downstairs. She slid down the rail to keep from making noise on the stairs and stepping into the living room again nearly had her passing out from the heat.

"The hell is this." She muttered to herself. In the habit of only cussing when Olivia wasn't around.

Making her way into the sauna that was the living room, the only thing out of place was the stuffed frog now on the floor by the bag, its stomach slit open. Feeling her heart in her throat for fear of someone being in the house she looked around before picking up the limp animal. There wasn't stuffing inside of it but strangely colored sand.

"Thought I'd never get out of there."

Magdalena held back a scream and stared at the man who was leaning against the wall, dropping the frog in the process. He gave her a long look before turning and opening the window to let the cool air in.

"I've reached the promise land at least…"

She reached out, grabbing a brass figurine of a rabbit that was on one of the higher shelves before facing him with her heart racing. "Who are you and how the hell did you get in here?" she demanded. She was standing in the door way between him in the hall but she wasn't going to let him make it up stairs.

His clothes were strange and half covered in some kind of old looking leather armor. His boots came up to his knees and his shirt was split, exposing his chest. He looked rather tired and had been sweating from the heat of the room the way she had been. His dark hair touched the back of his neck and he seemed to have not shaven completely that morning, making his face look just a little rough.

"_Alo_." He greeted, taking in her appearances as much as she was his, eyes in particularly on her hips and long hair.

"I don't know how the fuck you got in here, but you can get out the same way again." Magdalena glared, tightening her grip on brass rabbit. She had plenty of things nearby to throw.

The man blinked at her. "_Calmează-te_." He said slowly, raising his hands. "I don't mean any harm to you. Were you the one to kiss me?"

Magdalena blinked. His English wasn't perfect but it was clear as a bell. She wasn't positive on what the accent was but it was distracting. "What the hell are you talking about? Is this one of those home invasion things because I'll beat the hell out of you."

"Home invasion?" he smiled but it sounded confused. "_Nu_. My name is Vasska. I was the Enchanter to Wallachia. Under Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia."

"You're crazy is what you are." Magdalena said, fumbling to pull her cell phone out of her pocket, and where the bloody hell was Wallachia?

He smiled faintly, taking in her reaction. "I take it we are not in Romania."

"Got that right." She said, beginning to dial 911 when the phone slipped from her hands right into his. She stood stunned, hands shaking.

"What is this? You're lights and things are already very strange. I don't seem to be familiar with anything in this time. I must have been trapped for quite a long time. Last I recall it was the early sixteen hundreds. Would you tell me if I am in a new century?"

Magdalena felt the tension in her shoulders grow. She had a real crazy person in the house who someone stole her phone without moving. "The sixteen hundreds? That was four hundred years ago, man. I don't know what's with you, but you need to get out."

He looked stricken and paled somewhat more than she thought he could with his already light complexion. "It has been a long time then. You were the one to kiss me?" he repeated.

"What the hell are you talking about, I didn't kiss you." She snapped.

Vasska peered at her closely and smiled. "I was tricked you see. Betrayed really, and cursed. I was sealed into an inanimate object, one that would change every so often given the objects surroundings. A kiss would break the spell but who kisses inanimate objects?" He smiled and pushed himself off the wall, crouching down to pick up the remains of the frog stuffed animal she had dropped. "It seems I was in this. Thanks for freeing me. What is your name?"

She scowled at him. In the frog, yeah right.

"Ah, I apologize for intruding. I really had no say in the matter." He watched her, lips tugging into a happier smile. "I must find some way to repay you but first I would like to know your name." He raised a hand towards her and crooking a finger towards her.

"Magdalena." The word forced passed her lips and she gave him a wide eyed stare.

"Very lovely, Magdalena." He said, trying it out for himself. "Might I ask about you a little more? An enchanter to the Prince I served at the time is really all there is to me. He's dead now obviously. I suppose I get to make a new life. What country are we in? An English speaking one obviously but that is still a number of them."

She threw the brass rabbit at him, hitting him in the shoulder and making him hiss from the pain. "Let's get a couple things straight. You're crazy, fine, but don't you dare ever fucking do that again. If I don't wanna tell you something, you can just deal with not knowing. This is America, asshole. Welcome, and get used to it."

Vasska blinked, still holding his shoulder. "But there was nothing really in America."

"Not four hundred years ago." She paused. "Why am I even believing this bull?"

He gave her a tender sort of look, stepping towards her cautiously to return her phone and a flower she'd never seen before also appeared in his hand. "I am what I am, but you are right. I will have to quickly become adjusted here. Would you mind helping me with that, Magdalena?"

She reached up to rub her brow after snatching away her phone and leaving the flower. Stupid Romanian frog. "I've stepped into a Grimm story. I kissed a frog. Lord help me."

Vasska brightened considerable. "You did kiss me? It's a shame I can't remember it, though I will not argue or object if we were to repeat the performance."

Magdalena stared, and picked up a matching brass rabbit from the shelf.

"I surrender." He said immediately, holding his hands up again. "But I can prove it to you if I like. I can show you a little of what I've seen in my life. I would just need to touch your arm."

"You need to stay away from me. That's what you need to be doing." She said but she yelped suddenly when he disappeared and reappeared directly in front of her, fingers touching her cheek.

"I am an enchanter." He repeated softly, shining aqua eyes meeting hers as images filled her mind. She felt weak in her limbs as more sights crossed her mind. Places and people mostly. People dressed as strangely as he was now, some on horseback and some bowing in his direction. Short scenes of him weaving magic as easily as other worked their own crafts. She even saw the light that engulfed him and trapped him in his first object. A wood carving tool.

When Magdalena was able to blink away the strange pictures from her head she was sitting on the floor with Vasska gently holding onto her hands.

"Okay, princess?" he smiled faintly.

"I guess." She muttered, reaching up to rub the back of her head. He might have been crazy but after taking a little mind trip to the past she wasn't much better. There weren't many ways to explain what he had just done to her. "Don't call me princess."

He smiled wide. "If you insist but not even a real princess could rival you. I have seen my fair share."

"You haven't seen much of anyone for a couple hundred years so I'm really not gonna buy that crap from you, okay? Its Magdalena or don't address me at all."

Vasska chuckled. "Oh you can be sure about that. I'll stick around you for a while if you don't mind. I must find a way to repay you. I am not crazy; I am simply out of my time period. Nothing all that critical in the long run. "

"Not that critical he says." She grumbled. Explaining to her cousin what he was doing there and how he got there was going to be a pain unless she could do something with him before then. It wouldn't be so hard once she got home. Maybe she could hide him in her car. "Gah! What the hell! You have me thinking stupid thoughts."

"Blast, I was hoping our thoughts were more on the same wave length. My thoughts at the moment are certainly not stupid." He said suggestively.

Magdalena scowled at him. "Look magician boy, don't you start that."

"Enchanter, not magician." He said. "Those idiots aren't good for anything other than entertaining children. I was in high demand and held with full esteem. The royal families craved my talents."

She gave him a skeptical look. "Are you bragging?"

He gave her a cheeky look. "Maybe a little."

Before she could comment a quiet sound reached her ears that had her back on her feet in seconds.

"Magdalena? Something wrong?"

She took off up the stairs, checking the time of her cellphone and groaning in realization that she hadn't know how long he'd been showing her his past. She'd wasted her entire nap time! That Romanian frog was gonna pay!

"Mammy!"

"I'm here." She said, turning the CD player off as she passed it walking over to the bed where Olivia sat, tears in her eyes from waking up and being alone. "C'mere baby."

Still holding onto bear, Olivia groggily wrapped her arms around Magdalena's neck and buried her face into her shoulder. She'd cling for the next ten minutes easily.

"No wonder you were so intent on getting me out." Vasska smiled sweetly, staring at her from his spot in the door way with something else in his eyes. An odd sort of longing. "Protecting your baby from a threat."

Magdalena frowned at him and Olivia's head shot up at the new voice before shyly burying her face back into her nanny's neck. "She's my cousin."

He came into the room quietly and held up the frog that had been completely fixed. "Would you take it?" he asked.

Olivia stared at him, a stranger, for a long minute before taking the frog from him with a soft "Mine."

Vasska reached out to touch one of Olivia's golden strands of hair and smiled wide at Magdalena. "I'll stay, I think. You've convinced me. I think there is much we can teach one another." He reached out, taking one of Magdalena's own strands of hair that had come loose and putting it behind her ear. She had been so stunned she had barely noticed him turning to walk out until Olivia started to point.

"Convinced you?" she called, storming out after him. Small girl in her arms. "What do you mean convinced you, you stupid Romanian frog!"

End.

Your thoughts?


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